Twins couple's 'hope' over custody

The Kilshaws are now at home in north Wales

The couple preparing for a legal battle over the American twin girls they adopted over the internet say the babies are rightfully theirs.

On Tuesday, Alan and Judith Kilshaw will begin a court battle with social workers for custody of the girls at the family division of the High Court in Birmingham.

I am hopeful they will still be with us

Judith Kilshaw

Mrs Kilshaw told reporters outside her home in north Wales that she believed her family was in the right over the adoption issue.

"We are still fighting for our children because they are our children," she said.

"I was upset last night when I thought I wouldn't see them when they get to 18 and get married.

"I am hopeful that they will still be with us. If they are not with us physically, they will be with us in our thoughts."

The outcry over the case has prompted the Department of Health to speed up the passage of new laws protecting babies being adopted abroad and brought back to Britain.

Adoption law

Health minister John Hutton has also written to the UK's Internet Services Providers' Association warning that they could be breaking the law if they had illegal adoption web sites online.

The Kilshaws, who have been heavily criticised on both sides of the Atlantic, said they had been "ruined" by allegations made about them, and asked the press to "back off" while they prepared for the hearing.

They claim that media coverage of the adoption has turned them into hate figures.

Mr Kilshaw appealed for his family to be given space

The baby girls, Belinda and Kimberley, are currently being looked after by Flintshire social services.

The new legislation will make it a criminal offence for couples to adopt children abroad and bring them back to the UK without the approval of British adoption authorities.

Couples breaking the law will face three months in prison and a fine of up to £600.

The new rules should be in place by the end of April.

Adoption 'broker'

But Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester Mark Oaten, who pushed the new adoption act through a Private Members Bill more than 18 months ago, said the detailed legislation should have gone through "a lot earlier".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the proposed new laws will send a "powerful message" to couples considering adopting children from abroad.

Belinda and Kimberley were adopted by the Kilshaws in Arkansas, after they paid £8,000 to a broker.

But an American couple is disputing custody, saying they adopted the children first.

Richard and Vickie Allen have employed a new legal team in Arkansas to fight their case on both sides of the Atlantic.

Wards of court

The Allens are using the firm to file papers in an Arkansas court next week to have the Kilshaws' adoption overturned.

They are also in contact with solicitors in London and, if successful, will fight to have the twins returned to the US.

Flintshire County Council have begun proceedings to make the girls wards of court.

Social workers took the children into care on Thursday

Felicity Collier, the chief executive of the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, said: "This will give an opportunity for a very experienced judge of the Family Division to look at all the different factors in the twins lives and make a decision taking everything into account."

She said she thought the US authorities would wish to be involved and could issue some extradition proceedings.

Ms Collier said she expected the children to stay with the foster family for the time being.

"It would be more sensible for the babies to stay where they are instead of another interim move," she said.